Celebrate The Orson Welles Centennial This Week

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on May 4, 2015 2:55PM

Never mind that his latter years were wasted on things like TV wine ads, talk show appearances, voice acting for crap cartoons, and giving excessive attitude to a poor guy trying to record a commercial for peas; Orson Welles was every bit the genius he believed himself to be.

Forget that he was all of 26 when he directed, co-wrote and starred in Citizen Kane—and that the groundbreaking, still technically astonishing movie was his first feature film. Welles had staked his claim to genius well before that, on the stage and on the airwaves. From bluffing his way into a major role with Dublin's Gate Theatre when he was just 16, to a radical reimagining of Macbeth he adapted and directed at 20, to some of the most ambitious radio dramas ever mounted (including the legendary War of the Worlds broadcast of 1938)...yeah, genius...with a capital G.

Chicago can't claim Welles as one of our own, but his midwestern roots run deep. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, his ascent to wunderkind began as an enormously active and creative student at the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois. Both Kenosha and Woodstock have multiple events starting this week to celebrate what would have been Welles' 100th birthday, while Chicagoans who can't get out that far have some options closer to home to mark the occasion.

Woodstock's Orson Welles Centennial Festival kicks off Wednesday (his birthday), naturally with a showing of Citizen Kane. Award-winning documentarian Chuck Workman will present his recent film, Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles, on Friday. Saturday offers a screening of the underrated thriller The Stranger (1946), and an appearance by Oja Kodar—actress, filmmaker and longtime companion to Welles. Kodar, who collaborated on some of Welles' famously unfinished movies late in his career, will be interviewed by former Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum.

Woodstock's celebration continues throughout the month, with a re-creation of The War of the Worlds broadcast on May 15; several panel discussions and the one-man play, Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles, on May 16; a screening of The Magnificent Ambersons on May 22; and other discussions and presentations. For the full schedule and venues, click here.

Kenosha is also going all out to honor its native son with Citizen Welles: A Community Celebration of Kenoshan George Orson Welles. While the schedule features screenings and culturally serious presentations, there are also some more playful spins on the celebration. Friday's events include the unveiling of a Welles-themed beer from Public Craft Brewing, while Saturday's schedule includes puppet sketches (???) saluting the man's career highlights, an invitation to the public to make chalk drawings of aliens in tribute to War of the Worlds and another re-creation of that famous radio adaptation. A Welles Trivia Crawl and Contest, a screening of Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles and other programming continues through the end of May. Get all the details here.

If you need to stay in the city limits for your Welles fix, Doc Films' spring retrospective series, "Man in the Shadow: Orson Welles at 100," continues through June. This Wednesday you can catch the hugely entertaining and stylish The Lady from Shanghai (1947).

Finally, you don't even need to leave your home for a special tip of the hat to Orson. The long-running vintage radio showcase, Those Were the Days, will feature productions and appearances by the man on its next two broadcasts. This Saturday's show will include The Mercury Theatre's 1938 presentation of Dracula (with Welles as both the Count and Dr. Seward), episodes of The Shadow (1938) and The Black Museum (1952), a 1944 production of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days and Welles filling in for a sick Jack Benny in an episode of the comedian's program from 1943. Those Were the Days airs Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. on WDCB, 90.9 FM.